schoust

Hey Guy's I have an issue with my 07 that is really hard to believe! I have owned this truck for approx. 6 months. A few week's ago I hit a pot hole and ever since I did that the truck has never been the same! I brought it to a friend's garage and he identified a bad right front bearing and said everything else seems ok?? Well The slight shimmy,rattle,shake???? What ever you want to call it continues! I drive around 80 miles a day mostly highway and I am now at the point that I feel this might ruin my tires which I don't want to happen. So I get under the truck and have the kid turn the wheel back and forth and I can't really see anything?? So I grab each TRE and tug on them back and forth?? I checked all other parts and really can not see anything that is sticking out? I put my hand on the pitman arm and I can feel the same thing that I feel when I drive,can this be the steering box?? How do I diagnose the box? There has to be a way? Anyone with an 07 go through this yet? With the mileage that I have I can't believe that this truck feels so God awful!

justen920

I had the same thing happen to me at 66k. Had a hub replaced and bearings, all the ball joints and even a U Joint. Not a fun day for my wallet. I will be putting in a steering stabilizer and that will keep it tight for a while. You found the weakness of our trucks, and it is not cheap.

schoust

Yea well unfortunately my friend this ain't my 1rst Rodeo with Cummin's Dodge! You notice that I put the Cummin's 1st there is a reason for this! I had a 2nd Gen 12v that was totaled and is still sitting on the side of my house waiting for a donor truck! And it has a fully built Goerend trans and a brand new aftermarket front end with Dss steering stabilizer. So I do know about the weaknesses of our truck's but I never dreamed that the darn thing would feel so bad while driving down the road with just 50k miles! I will get all of this done and when I do It will be the very best Truck that one can own! I will not say it will be the best that one can buy because that would be a blatant lie and I wouldn't want to steer anyone wrong Lol!

Sorry if I come off a bit bitchy but after spending 30k less than 6 months ago I'm a bit Po'ed!
Now does anyone know how to trouble shoot this steering box so that I can move forward and try and enjoy my truck?? Boy I was hoping that I would be able to save for that trans so that I could enjoy a 4door rocket! I guess in time...
Soory Just Venting, Once again......

bradler

watch for play in the sector shaft coming out of the box while someone turns the wheels....the steering boxes can also be adjusted. I finally got tired of dikin with mine and put in a red head gear box and a brace for the steering gear....

BigIron70

Replace the gear box known problem with them, still under warranty? There is also a recall on the steering linkage. Best to call in your vin number to see if it applies to your truck. Recall H46

schoust

Anyone have that number? It's worth a shot but I know I don't have that sort of luck!

BigIron70

Local Dodge dealership can run your vin number for recalls, recalls never expire.

schoust

Called the number and Guess what,NO recall's........
Thats so surprising.. Don't know if I should just rebuild the front end of not? Man I love the room and the fact that my Familly can all squeeze in..............
But I'm begining to miss my 12....

Polaraco

That can be diseaving. You may be feeling the tire turning on the ground coming up through the steering.

You may have bent the rim or knocked a belt out on your tire. Jack the truck up. With a straight edge, a square is best, spin the tire with the strait edge nest to it. Then. take a short stick and vice grip it to the T square at the rim height. Spin it again and watch closely. Do both sides. Also spin the tire from the side and watch to see if the tread is going up and down. That's runout. Can you see where the tire hit the hole on the tire?

Check the bushings on the trailing bar and put a straight edge on it to see if it's bent.

Run your hand over the face of the tire and see if you feel sharp edges one way or the other. Tow could cause a vibration like you feel as the tire scuffs. Caster will cause a pull to the side you hit.

schoust

Well I believe that this box does have an issue but I have yet to read anything that sounds like my problem? If I grab the pitman arm and have someone turn the wheel back and forth the box makes a clicking sound and you can feel it all the way up through the wheel, All is tight underneath the truck....Box???

CD in NM

Sorry to hear that you are having trouble with the front end at such an early mileage. You might want to consider upgrading your front end to the 2008.5/2009 front end parts'

Mopar has a new HD replacement steering box for the 2003-2010's, it along with a new drop pitman arm and a steering shaft adapter makes the steering box setup like the new system found on the 2011's.

The part number for the steering box is 5212 2316 AF, the part number for the pitman arm is 5212 2392 AA, I don't have the part number for the steering shaft adapter, hopefully someone will chime in with it or tell you where to get it.

I hope you don't need a new steering box, but if you do, upgrading it to the new box is an outstanding choice, much better than the old box.



CD

dieselthunder

I have a very similar problem. I've come to the conclusion that the whole front end is pretty much junk on these trucks. I'm at 120,000 right now. At about 70k I had to replace both front axle u-joints plus the drivers side bearing/hub assembly. I've pushed the ball joints as far as I can but at this point they are smoked on both sides. Top and bottom. Bushings on the stabilizer bar are shot also. I now also have the clunking sound at slow speed turns. On the highway the steering is shaky and far from solid. These trucks are labeled heavy duty. I'm still trying to figure out what about the front end is heavy duty. Pretty much a Dodge rip off. It's just obvious that nothing about the front end is built to last. I did run 315 BFG's for about 40k. I'm sure that didn't help. It's just amazing that everyone on here has the same problems and Dodge/Chrysler doesn't recognize a major problem.

schoust

Yea I'm disgusted myself! I paid big dollars for the truck that I always wanted and now I have to deal with this. I feel like I'm getting a double whammy one from Dodge and one from the St. of Ct.in the form big fat tax hike across the board!
Anyway I have to deal with it one way or another what cracks me up is I called to see if there were any recalls and the answer was a big fat NO????
Now back to the repair sorry for all the gripping.. I have been looking at both Borganson box and Red Head I guess I can take a look at the Mopar deal but honestly I am beginning to believe that they can not be trusted to put out a product that is worth the money they charge....